Pocket-Sized Therapy

By Olivia Foggin,
Admin Manager
05/03/2019

Extensive use of screen time often gets a bad rap. It supposedly stunts the development of toddlers, ruins the romance in relationships, and leaves us all looking like mindless zombies at the dinner table.

But is all screen time counter-intuitive to our everyday lives? There are many apps out there with the sole purpose of improving our well-being and these pocket-sized life preserves let people receive help when they need it. Most issues can’t be dealt with during our 9 to 5 days, leaving many to face their demons alone.

Here are four amazing examples of apps that can help us out:

MY POSSIBLE SELF

My Possible Self is an amazing tool featured in the NHS app library. Through a range of modules, users can develop personal skills to overcome fear and anxiety, bereavement or to help cope with major life changes, stress or negative thoughts.

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RECOVERY RECORD

Recovery Record is an app designed to help people manage and understand their eating disorders. Through cognitive behavioural therapy and self-monitoring, those fighting anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating can begin to develop and establish a healthy relationship with food.

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SUPERBETTER

For those fighting depression, anxiety or PTSD, SuperBetter is an app that uses achievements and rewards to level up a user’s well-being. Mental illness is not a game, but gamification is a tried and tested way of distributing or interpreting heavy information. This allows users to build up positive skills, such as resilience and optimism.

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HEADSPACE

Headspace is an app designed to give you time to think within your hectic schedule. Users can select bite-sized or SOS exercises for quick relief. With hundreds of guided meditations and mindfulness techniques, users can tailor their exercises to work, sleep, focus, stress or anxiety – creating a multi-use platform.

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According to NHS Digital, at any one time, a sixth of England’s population aged 16-64 have a mental health problem – an extremely worrying statistic. Especially when you realise this figure leaves out less common conditions. So screen time might just save a life.

If you feel as though you suffer from any of the conditions above, here’s where you can get more support to help with your wellbeing.